TN minister seeks to downplay Amit Shah's criticism

A day after BJP chief Amit Shah dubbed Tamil Nadu as among the most corrupt states, senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar today sought to play down the criticism, saying the real meaning of what he said was lost in translation by the party's national secretary H Raja.

Speaking to reporters here, Jayakumar, who is also the fisheries minister, said Raja incorrectly translated the real meaning of what Shah had said.

The minister said he believed that Shah would have spoken positively about the state.

During his speech in Hindi here yesterday, Shah had said, "...I am pained when I think of Tamil Nadu. It is counted among the most corrupt states. We will finish corruption here too."
Elaborating on what he perceived from Shah's speech, the fisheries minister said, "He would have generally spoken about 'cash for votes' and did not attack government or its departments."